Historic Event
Oct 1 Following the Port Arthur Massacre, John Howard's Australian government starts a gun buy back scheme. Compulsorily acquires more than 640,000 firearms, including many newly illegal semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.
- Oct 2 30th Country Music Association Award: Brooks & Dunn win
- Oct 3 Thunderdome in Tampa Bay renamed Tropicana Field
- Oct 4 BPAA US Bowling Open by Dave Husted
- Oct 4 BPAA US Women's Bowling Open won by Liz Johnson
- Oct 4 Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi breaks record for fastest hundred in one-day cricket history; in first ODI innings, Afridi savages Sri Lanka for 102 in KCA Centenary Tournament match in Nairobi; reaches 100 in 37 balls
- Oct 4 Left wing Mike Donnelly becomes first player in NHL history to play for all 3 New York teams (Sabres, Rangers & Islanders) when he suits up for the NY Islanders in a 1-0 loss in Los Angeles
- Oct 5 Cleveland Indians strike out 23 Baltimore Orioles in 12 innings in 4-3 ALDS win at Jacobs Field; Orioles win series, 3-1
- Oct 5 New York centre fielder Bernie Williams homers from each side of the plate as the Yankees beat Texas, 6-4 to win the AL Division Series, 3 - 1
Historic Event
Oct 6 Bob Dole and President Bill Clinton meet in their 1st debate
Historic Event
Oct 7 Rupert Murdoch launches Fox News with Roger Ailes as CEO
Farm Aid Concert
Oct 12 Farm Aid IX held in Columbia, South Carolina; performers include Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Hootie and the Blowfish, The Beach Boys, Son Volt, Robert Earl Keen, Martina McBride, Jewel, and John Conlee
Sports History
Oct 13 British Williams driver Damon Hill wins season ending Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka; becomes first son of a F1 World Drivers Champion (Graham Hill 1962, 68) to win title himself; wins by 19 points from Jacques Villeneuve
- Oct 13 MLB American League Championship: New York Yankees beat Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 1
- Oct 14 Braves blow out St Louis, 14-0 in an NLCS game
- Oct 14 Dow Jones closes over 6,000 for 1st time (6,010)
- Oct 14 Packer Chris Jacke kicks longest field goal to end overtime (53 yds)
- Oct 16 Eighty-four people are killed and more than 180 injured as 47,000 football fans attempt to squeeze into the 36,000-seat Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City.
- Oct 17 "Taking Sides" opens at Atkinson Theater NYC
- Oct 17 MLB National League Championship: Atlanta Braves beat St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 3
- Oct 19 Braves beat NY Yanks by record tying 11 runs, 12-1 in a World Series
- Oct 20 "Summer & Smoke" closes at Criterion Theater NYC
- Oct 20 Braves Andruw Jones is youngest player to homer in World Series
- Oct 20 Wasim Akram (257) & Saqlain Mushtaq gets cricket Test record 313 for 8th wicket, vs Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura
- Oct 22 NY Yankee Bernie Williams hits record tying 7th post season HR, as Yanks tie record of 6th straight post season road win (en route to 8)
- Oct 23 New York Yankees set record recovering from 0-6 in Baseball World Series game to beat Braves, 8-6 in Game 4 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium; record 7th straight post-season road win
- Oct 24 Hasan Raza makes Test Cricket debut for Pakistan age 14 yrs 238 days
- Oct 24 Last game at Atlanta County Fulton Stadium. Yanks win record 8th straight road post season win (with no loses)
- Oct 25 Frank, brother of Yank manager Joe Torre, receives a heart transplant
- Oct 26 Breeders' Cup Horse Racing, Woodbine Racetrack; winners: Lit de Justice, Storm Song, Jewel Princess, Da Hass, Boston Harbor, Pilsudski, Alphabet Soup
- Oct 26 Baseball World Series: New York beats Atlanta Braves, 3-2 in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium to win club's 23rd title; MVP: Bronx Bombers' reliever John Wetteland
- Oct 27 US beats Japan, 21½-14½, at Nichirei International Golf Tournament
- Oct 28 Goa upset Karnataka to win their 1st Ranji Cricket Trophy game ever
- Oct 30 Exxon confirms that it is in talks with state-owned Qatar General Petroleum Corporation concerning the application of new technology to convert natural gas to petroleum products
- Oct 31 Transportes Aéreos Regionais (TAM) Flight 402, a Fokker F100, crashes into several houses in São Paulo, Brazil killing 98 including 2 on the ground.
- Oct 31 American jam band Phish performs The Talking Heads' "Remain In Light" as a musical costume during a show at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia